Jamila Wideman (born October 16, 1975) is an American lawyer, activist, and former professional

basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...

. She is the daughter of author

John Edgar Wideman John Edgar Wideman (born June 14, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, memoirist, and essayist. He was the first person to win the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice. His writing is known for experimental techniques and a focus o ...

. She is currently the general manager of WNBA team,

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

Early life

Wideman was born on October 16, 1975. Her father,

, is an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

author and a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. Her mother, Judith Ann Goldman, is a lawyer. Until she was 10 years old, Wideman lived in

Laramie, Wyoming Laramie () is a List of municipalities in Wyoming, city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States, known for its high elevation at , for its railroad history, and as the home of the University of Wyoming. The population wa ...

, where her father taught Creative Writing at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

. In 1986, she moved to

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. Amherst has a council–manager form of government, and is considered a city under Massachusetts state law. Amherst is one of several Massach ...

, where her father accepted a tenured teaching position at the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...

Education

High school

Wideman started on the Amherst Regional High School Varsity team for six straight years, beginning in 7th grade. In her senior year, leading her team to the high school state championship, Wideman averaged 17 points, 6 steals, 6 assists, and 6

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game. In the State Championship game, she scored 27 points, had 14 steals and 8 assists, with 7 rebounds. In 1992–1993, Wideman was named ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' First Team High School

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, Converse High School All-American,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

High School All-American,

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

High School All-American,

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

High School Player of the Year,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

High School Player of the Year, and High School All-American by the WBCA. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game in 1993, scoring 10 points. Her high school basketball team was the subject of a book, ''In These Girls Hope is a Muscle'', by Madeleine Blais. While in high school, Wideman published poems on the complexities of her racial identity in her high school newspaper. Shortly after the Los Angeles uprisings of 1992, she wrote and published a poem titled ''Black''.

College

Wideman attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where she continued with basketball. As a 5'6" point guard, Wideman was the smallest player on her college team. While at Stanford University, she completed a double major, earning a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

African-American studies Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...

in 1997. After playing professional basketball, she earned a J.D. from

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

Professional basketball career

Wideman was selected as the 3rd overall draft pick by the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

in the inaugural WNBA draft of collegiate players in the summer of 1997. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997 in a 57 - 67 loss to the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

. Wideman recorded 4 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in her debut game. Wideman would be traded from the Sparks to the

Cleveland Rockers The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Cleveland, that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which started in 1997. The owner was Gordon ...

on June 21, 1999 and played 26 games for the team, averaging 2.2 points and 2 assists. After the 1999 season, Wideman would be selected by the

Portland Fire The Portland Fire were a professional basketball team in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) based in Portland, Oregon that joined the league in 2000 as the counterpart to the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and played their games a ...

with the 21st pick of the Expansion Draft that took place on December 15, 1999. She would only play 5 games with the newly found WNBA franchise, but will not score a single basket in any of those 5 games (playing a total of 35 minutes across all 5 appearances). Wideman would be waived by the Fire on April 24, 2001 before the beginning of the next season. Wideman spent the 1999–2000 winter season in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, playing for the Elitzur Ramla club in the Israeli Basketball League. Her team won the national championship. Three years after being waived by the Portland Fire and not playing in the WNBA, Wideman would try a comeback on April 19, 2004 by signing a contract with the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

. Unfortunately she would be cut two weeks later on May 4, 2004 before ever playing a game for the Sun and she never attempted a WNBA comeback afterwards. Thus, Wideman's final WNBA game ever was the 5th game she played with the Portland Fire during the 2000 season. That game was played on August 9, 2000 and the Fire would lose 60 - 68 to the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

. Wideman only played for three and half minutes in her final game and grabbed one rebound and dished out one assist. During the winter of 2005, Wideman reunited with college teammate Kate Starbird and played professionally in

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Activism

Upon graduation from Stanford, and during the off-seasons of the WNBA, Wideman founded and directed the

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Athletic Alliance. In 1997, Wideman founded and implemented another youth program called "Hoopin' with Jamila". The program was funded by

. ''

'' honored Wideman as the "Most Caring Athlete" in 1998. The program also earned the

National Council on Crime and Delinquency Evident Change, formerly the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD), is an American nonprofit research organization. NCCD was organized by fourteen probation officers who met at Plymouth Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 17, 1907 ...

"Community Award", given annually to programs that attempt to provide creative alternatives to juvenile incarceration. In 2001, Wideman participated in the Connecticut Forum, where she shared the stage with

Stanley Crouch Stanley Lawrence Crouch (December 14, 1945 – September 16, 2020) was an American cultural critic, poet, playwright, novelist, biographer, and syndicated columnist. He was known for his jazz criticism and his 2000 novel ''Don't the Moon Lo ...

Anita Hill Anita Faye Hill (born July 30, 1956) is an American lawyer, educator and author. She is a professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member of the university's Heller School for Social Policy and ...

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

, and

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

to talk candidly about race.

Writing

Wideman collaborated with Juniper Lesnik to publish an article on playground basketball in the Sunday ''New York Times''.

Post-basketball accomplishments

Following her graduation from

New York University Law School The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

, Wideman began working as a staff attorney at Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery, Alabama, where she litigated on behalf of death sentences individuals in state and federal courts, and later became a staff attorney at the

Legal Aid Society The Legal Aid Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit legal aid provider based in New York City. Founded in 1876, it is the oldest and largest provider of legal aid in the United States. Its attorneys provide representation on criminal and civil mat ...

in New York City. In September 2018, Wideman was hired by the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

as Vice President of Player Development. In December 2024, Wideman was announced as the general manager of Washington Mystics on WNBA.

Career statistics

WNBA Career Statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 28 , , 14 , , 22.6 , , .236 , , .194 , , .794 , , 2.0 , , 3.7 , , 0.9 , , 0.0 , , 1.8 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 25 , , 0 , , 13.2 , , .279 , , .250 , , .724 , , 0.9 , , 2.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 1.4 , , 1.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 26 , , 13 , , 15.4 , , .273 , , .136 , , .647 , , 1.3 , , 2.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, 5 , , 0 , , 7.0 , , .000 , , — , , — , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 4 years, 3 teams , 84 , , 27 , , 16.6 , , .254 , , .186 , , .738 , , 1.4 , , 2.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 1.6 , , 2.2

College

, - , style="text-align:left;" , 1993–94 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 30, , -, , -, , 40.4, , 33.3, , 71.2, , 2.9, , 4.5, , 1.6, , 0.0, , -, , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1994–95 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 32, , -, , -, , 36.9, , 15.8, , 66.7, , 1.9, , 3.5, , 1.3, , 0.0, , -, , 3.7 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1995–96 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 30, , -, , -, , 43.5, , 23.3, , 72.8, , 4.3, , 2.2, , 2.8, , 0.0, , -, , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1996–97 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 35, , -, , -, , 41.6, , 37.5, , 72.2, , 3.1, , 5.0, , 2.3, , 0.0, , -, , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 127, , -, , -, , 41.2, , 29.0, , 71.4, , 3.0, , 3.8, , 2.0, , 0.0, , -, , 7.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="14", Statistics retrieved from

Sports-Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey Ref ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wideman, Jamila 1975 births Living people African-American Jews American women's basketball players Israeli women's basketball players Basketball players from Massachusetts Cleveland Rockers players Jewish American basketball players Los Angeles Sparks draft picks Los Angeles Sparks players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Point guards Portland Fire players Basketball players from Wyoming Stanford Cardinal women's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century American Jews 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen Amherst Regional High School (Massachusetts) alumni Sportspeople from Laramie, Wyoming

Early life

Education

High school

College

Professional basketball career

Activism

Writing

Post-basketball accomplishments

Career statistics

WNBA Career Statistics

Regular season

College

See also

References

External links